beginner's guide to press release optimization

Beginner’s Guide to Search EngineBeginner s Guide to Search Engine Optimization for Press Releases

Joseph MillerEON Product ManagerSan Antonio, Texas

Alison MacDonaldAccount ExecutiveSilicon Valley, CA

Joseph.Miller@BusinessWire.com@EONpr

Alison.MacDonald@BusinessWire.com

#bwevents on Twitter

Overview of Today’s Presentationy

• SEO• Goals• Keywords• Optimization

Di t ib ti• Distribution• Q & A

Well Optimized Releasesp

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Th i f tti t t i d d d k dThe organic process of getting your content indexed and ranked by Search Engines.

WHY SEO IS IMPORTANTWHY SEO IS IMPORTANT

The objective of search engine optimization (SEO) is to increase a Website's traffic counts, and ultimately conversions, by ranking very high in the results of searches for the keywords in the search query~ Bruce Clayy q y y

• Increase Traffic• Create awareness of your companyy p y• Get more business

Paid or S dSponsored “SERPS”

Natural orNatural or Organic “SERPS”

Google News Results

Google Realtime ResultsResults

Search Statistics

• 15.6 billion “core” search querieswere conducted in the U.S.in August ‘10 an increasein August 10, an increase of 6% from ‘December ‘09. (Comscore)

• 81% of online purchasesstart with search. (Forrester Research) Photo by: danardvincente

Press Release Optimization GoalBrand Visibility and Website TrafficBrand Visibility and Website Traffic

Press Release Optimization GoalSERP Rankings / Rep ManagementSERP Rankings / Rep Management

Develop a Keyword StrategyDevelop a Keyword Strategy

IdentifyBrianstorm look at

SelectChoose 3 to 5

AnalyzeR h t fi d tBrianstorm, look at

stats, and work with stakeholders and teams to determine

hi h k d t

Choose 3 to 5 keywords that will be used to optimize your press release.

Research to find out those keywords that are most lucrative, competitive or

which keywords to consider.

ppopular.

Find like terms that can be used as alternatives.

Release Optimization FlowRelease Optimization Flow

Write for real Going top down, readers and search engines. They are both target audiences for your

Format and add Multimedia to add to the visibility of your

l

add your top 3-5 keywords throughout your release whileaudiences for your

press release. releaserelease while

retaining readability.

Optimization Focusp

50%50%

40%10%

Optimizing Headlinesp g

50%50%• What People See First• Use Top Keyword Top Three if possibleUse Top Keyword. Top Three if possible.• Title Tag• Search engine results listing

Press Release OptimizationG l N H dli TiGoogle News Headline Tip

50%• Keep your headline between 2 and 22 Words

L d G l N j t

50%

• Less or more and Google News may reject• Almost always use Company name

Press Release OptimizationA id S i l Ch t i H dliAvoid Special Characters in Headline

50%50%

Press Release OptimizationA id S i l Ch t i H dliAvoid Special Characters in Headline

50%50%

Optimizing Bodyp g y

• First 100 words most important.• First 200 characters used to populate Description

Tag

40%

Tag. – Used below hyperlinked search engine results listing.– Used as description for RSS feeds.

• First 140 characters used as default for Google.• & Business Wire site display.

Al t th k d• Always use top your three keywords.

Press Release OptimizationG l N B d TiGoogle News Body Tips

• Most rejected releases under 125 words40%

• Over 1000 words usually go to Finance channels• First paragraph should be at least two sentences

Th t i b tt• Three sentences is better• Bullet points are good, but too many bullet points +

short paragraphs may negatively affect performanceshort paragraphs may negatively affect performance

Optimizing Multimediap g

• Unique description & filename for image q p gor video

• Ex. Joseph Miller, EON Product Manager at B i Wi t t i i 10000Business Wire, reacts to receiving 10000 Berkshire Hathaway shares for his birthday

10%

Multimedia

Photos

Video

Where Multimedia Goes

•US Newspaper photo desksUS Newspaper photo desks•AP PhotoExpress•Yahoo! Finance•Press AssociationE P h t A•European Pressphoto Agency

•Ddp•Newsis•ME Newswire•YourTube•Vimeo•Search Engines•Etc

10%•Etc

Press Release OptimizationAdd Multimedia for Increased Visibility

23% of our Top 500 releases in 2010 releases have multimedia.

Add Multimedia for Increased Visibility

5% of all our releases have multimedia70% more release reads

Increase clickthru % to your websiteIncrease clickthru % to your website and press release.

Images served up in Google Universal Search and Google Images.g g

Use of multimedia downstream on other sites and in print.

Where Release Goes

•NewsroomsNewsrooms•Search Engines•Blogs•Email AlertsMi Bl•Micro Blogs

•Fax lists•Mobile Aps•Financial Pagesg•RSS Feeds•Anywhere and everywhere

Closing TipsT k ATake Aways

A t f ti i ti l• Any amount of optimization goes a long way.• Always optimize the headline. • Optimize your multimedia captions• Optimize your multimedia captions.• Don’t forget Hyperlinks to Drive Traffic.• Use tools to help your research.Use tools to help your research.• Think of your press release as a miniwebsite,

designed by you, for your client.

Th k f J i i U T d !Thanks for Joining Us Today!

Joseph Miller Alison MacDonaldEON Product ManagerSan Antonio, Texas

Account ExecutiveSilicon Valley, CA

Joseph.Miller@BusinessWire.com@EONpr

Alison.MacDonald@BusinessWire.com